Talk
by Lariren-Shadow
Summary: "Mind if I join you," Korra asks causing him to jump. "Sure," he says with a nod that almost makes him forget the ache that makes his skin feel slightly raw at the sight of her.


**A/N**: BOOK 2! YAY! Additionally: I'm not against Borra. In fact while writing this I could see why people ship it. Personally its not my thing. I've been meaning to write this for awhile now so here goes.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own.

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He's tired and slightly sick. He hates the ship (though he won't admit it) and hates that he feels so disconnected to his element. He can't explain what it feels like to Mako, even in the cold his brother flourished. Sometimes he thinks it must be nice to have your element within you.

He can't talk about this with Lin. On the way to the South Pole he spent his days commiserating with the former (current?) chief of police. She told him he reminded her of Sokka and Aang; he showed her all the tricks Pabu could do and tried desperately to make her smile. Now his almost friend feels connected to the metal in the ship and much more at ease. He tries, desperately, to feel the earth in the metal.

He's found every single lump of coal on the ship instead.

It's dusk. He sits with his legs hanging over the side of the ship, arms resting against the first ring of railing cradling his head. He almost sought out Lin earlier. But when he overheard his brother discussing what it meant to be a cop he retreated to the deck. He tried, really, to be as interested in the inner workings of the ship as Asami is. He gave up after an hour.

"Mind if I join you," Korra asks causing him to jump.

"Sure," he says with a nod that almost makes him forget the ache that makes his skin feel slightly raw at the sight of her. He's better, he tells himself, but she's still the most amazing girl he's ever met.

But she loves his brother and his brother loves her.

"How are you doing?" She asks.

"Eh, I've been better," he admits.

"It feels so different when you're disconnected from your element," she tries to sympathize.

He shrugs. "Yeah, say how is it now that you can bend all four elements again?"

She folds her arms over the railing and rests her head on them. "Amazing," she says dreamily. "Bending has always been my life. When it was gone I kept thinking about what I was going to do and what I have in my life besides bending."

"You have my brother," he assures her with only a slight amount of bitterness creeping into his tone.

"I wasn't even thinking about-"

"It's ok," he interrupts, "you don't have to lie to me."

"I'm not. I wasn't thinking Mako. At least not just about him. I kept thinking about everyone I let down and about how I wasn't much use to the world anymore."

He nudges her shoulder with his. "Hey, come on. You have to remember everything I told you. You're still Korra with or without your bending."

She smiles a little and says "thanks."

"Why Mako?" The words fall out of his mouth before he can stop them. He watches her smile disappear before she turns to look out over the water. "You don't have to-"

"No I do," she takes a deep breath. "It's not that you're not amazing: you are. You're fun and upbeat and know how to make me laugh. It's just, well, it feels amazing to be around Mako. We can talk about everything. Even though he got on my nerves a lot I couldn't get him out of my head. He makes me feel like I'm just Korra."

"I don't?" He asks softly. He's only ever thought of her as Korra.

"You do but it doesn't feel the same. He watched me while I went into the Avatar state for the first time. He could have easily run away and I wouldn't have known. But he stayed and smiled and took that as part of me without any questions. Katara always told me that when the Avatar falls in love they fall hard and fast. I guess I did too."

A tiny part of him wants to tell her maybe she can fall in love twice. But...but he can't ignore how happy Mako is with her. When Mako was with Asami he looked content. Now that he's with Korra Bolin notices that Mako looks happier than he has in years. How his brother smiles just a little bit brighter when he's with Korra.

"I'm sorry," she says sincerely.

He kicks her leg gently. "Don't be sorry. I guess we're just destined to be amazing friends." As soon as he says the words he knows they're true. He's pretty sure she's probably going to be his sister and he can't think of anyone else he'd want for a sister.

"Yeah, friends," she agrees.

He feels lighter than he has in days as they sit together while the sun sets.


End file.
